Officials from Time Warner Cable recently announced that they would be donating a Time Warner Learn Lab to the Ali Forney Center -- the New York City organization that provides services to LGBT youth who have runaways or otherwise homeless.The cable company’s grant, worth $50,000, will provide the center with new computers, printers, computer software, tablets and high-definition televisions. Time Warner will also provide AFC with high-speed, HD-DVR and TV services to power their new devices.

"Time Warner Cable is excited to offer a TWC Learning Lab to the AFC, the first LGBT services organization to receive this state-of-the-art facility from us," John Quigley, Time Warner Cable’s Regional Vice President of Operations for NYC, said. "Time Warner Cable is proud to partner with an organization that serves as a strong voice for homeless LGBT youth in NYC and across the nation. The Time Warner Cable Learning Lab will feature programs and resources that will assist youth in their educational and career development needs as they grow from adolescence to adulthood."

The AFC opened in 2002 and serves mostly Manhattan and Brooklyn youth between the ages of 16 and 24. The organization, which is the first of its kind in the country, provides the young adults and teens with a safe shelter and counseling to them and their families.

The new lab will be part of the center’s new 24-hour drop-in center in Harlem and the lab is expected to officially open in the first quarter of 2013. The drop-in center was destroyed by floodwaters from Superstrom Sandy and AFC’s computers, phones, furniture and supplies were ruined by the hurricane’s floodwaters. The community, however, came together to help rebuild the center and events were launched to raise money to fix the center.

"We are incredibly grateful to Time Warner Cable for awarding AFC with a Learning Lab. This is an example of outstanding corporate citizenship and commitment to diversity," Carl Siciliano, executive director of the AFC, said. "This Learning Lab will not only provide an important connection between the youth we serve and access to state-of-the-art technology, but it will also be an enormous aid in helping them find employment, pursue educational opportunities and much more."

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